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Red-light-running driver hits police car -- then bolts

The lesson: If you are going to run a red light, do not hit a police car; if you do, please stop

Two East Precinct police officers, riding together in a "partner unit", were patrolling their district in the Brentwood-Darlington neighborhood early on Monday, July 3, when they were called to a disturbance at the 7-Eleven Store on the corner of S.E. 82nd Avenue of Roses and Flavel Street.

As the patrol car was headed eastbound on Flavel Street at 4:17 a.m., crossing through the intersection of S.E. 72nd Avenue on a green light, the 2017 police Ford SUV Interceptor's rear end was clipped on the driver's side by a silver car heading south on 72nd.

The car that struck the police cruiser ended up on the sidewalk in the intersection, but the police car spun, as it moved east on S.E. Flavel Street, until crashing through a steel chain-link fence surrounding the playground of Marcus Whitman Elementary School.

The two female occupants of the offending vehicle which ran the red light exited their smashed car and ran south on 72nd. They were both detained by a third officer who had also been responding to the call on 82nd Avenue and was nearby.

One of the officers in the damaged police car was transported by ambulance to a Portland hospital for treatment to an apparently-minor injury. The other was taken to the hospital by a Sergeant for a precautionary exam. Both were treated and released.

Later that morning, a Portland Public Schools maintenance worker told THE BEE, "The police car was down in the playground, and there were other police cars all around the area."

Following the crash investigation, the driver of the offending car, 24-year-old Laquonda Fuller-Hudson, was issued citations for Failure to Perform the Duties of a Driver (Hit and Run), and Reckless Driving, and then was released on her own recognizance pending her court appearance on the charges.